Siege of Casale (1495)

The Siege of Casale (1495) was a military action of the Italian Wars that occurred when a French army, led by Evrart de Balliol, besieged the Montferratese capital of Casale (now Casale Monferrato). The French suffered incredibly high losses during the battle, but they managed to conquer the city and gain a better foothold in northern Italy.

With King Charles VIII of France campaigning in Tuscany and Umbria, it was up to his trusted generals to pacify the north. Charles VIII did not trust that Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan would remain his ally forever, or that the Republic of Venice would remain neutral forever, so he decided to gain a better footing in the north. To this end, he dispatched Evrart de Balliol and an army of 1,213 troops to reduce the Montferratese capital of Casale Monferrato. Unlike the King, Balliol had no artillery in his army, so he was forced to resort to using battering rams to reduce the walls of the city. The Montferratese troops gathered at the gates so that, when the gates were breached, the French would find themselves already engaged in battle in a tight corridor. The French suffered extremely high losses in the battle, losing over half of their force to the Montferratese troops, who included renowned Greek Palaiologene pikemen. The French would ultimately succeed in overwhelming these forces despite all odds, and despite heavy losses. As was usual with the French in Italy, the French soldiers took out their anger on the populace, massacring 1,647 civilians and looting 1,018 guilders from the city coffers. By this point, however, it became clear that the French losses in Italy would only increase as they progressed their way through the war.